Police detain JKLF chief ahead of Modi’s visit

JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik was detained Thursday by the police ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Jammu and Kashmir on May 19.

Malik was taken into custody near the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) office in Abi Guzar area of the city, its spokesman said.

He said that immediately after the arrest, Malik was shifted to police station Kothibagh.
Prior to his arrest, Malik told media persons outside the JKLF office that New Delhi has choked every space of peaceful political activities in Kashmir.

Today is the first day of holy Ramadhan and I am being arrested on this very day. This is the reality of Indian democracy in Jammu and Kashmir which has choked every little space of peaceful political activities in Kashmir, he said.

Malik said the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) has called for a complete shutdown on May 19 on the occasion of the prime minister’s visit to the state.

JRL has asked people to gather at Lal Chowk and stage peaceful protest sit-in against gross human rights violations committed in Kashmir by India. Through this we intend to convey our dissent against killings of youth, spree of arrests, choking of political space and other acts of oppression and aggression, Malik said.